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State to gain from Budget: Virbhadra
Virbhadra contests Capt's statement
Hike sought in nazrana of devtas
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Govt to undertake decongestion of Shimla
More animals for Kufri zoo
Mankotia seeks White Paper on regional disparities
Women flying squads to check copying
BJP terms Budget anti-poor
Info chief takes oath
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State to gain from Budget: Virbhadra
Shimla, March 1 Interacting with mediapersons, he said both schemes would meet the primary needs of the people. “With special thrust on power generation in the Budget for which adequate funds were provided, Himachal will be able to harness maximum possible hydro power generation for which there is a great potential in the state,” he remarked. He added that Himachal would greatly benefit from the special consideration given to the creation of basic infrastructure in rural areas like roads, electricity and drinking water. The Chief Minister rubbished talk that the state had been ignored in the Budget because of his differences with the Congress leadership. “Those who are making such petty remarks are basically suffering from inferiority complex,” he said. Taking credit for shaping the destiny of the state under his chief ministership for five tenures, he said the Congress government at the Centre had always provided liberal financial assistance to the state. He said the Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway line had been declared as a national project and he had written to the Prime Minister who had assured that adequate funds would be provided. “The Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway line is less than 100 km and we had asked that it be taken up on the pattern of the Konkan railway, but the Prime Minister wanted it to be taken as a national project”, he clarified. Asked on whether the Government of India would restore the period of the economic package given by the previous NDA government at the Centre till 2013 and which had been reduced till 2007 by the UPA government, he said he was confident that no discrimination would be done against either Himachal Pradesh or Uttaranchal. |
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Nothing exciting about Budget, says industry
Baddi, March 1 The state government, which was banking on an extension of the excise exemption available under the 2003 Central industrial package, has been left high and dry. This benefit was earlier available to the units which would commence production by March 2012. It was later curtailed to March 2007 after the neighbouring Punjab and Haryana objected to exodus of industry from their states. The pharmaceutical industry has heaved a sigh of relief with no hike in the excise duty though immense pressure had been created for the same by the pharmaceutical investors having their units outside the non-intensive zones. Dr Khanna of the Vectra Pharma, while welcoming the Budget, said it was a relief that no fresh excise exemption was given to the investors in the non-incentive zones as it would have defeated the very purpose of investing in the incentive states. Mr Vijay Arora, Vice-President, Vardhman Group, said there was nothing special in the Budget which could excite the industry in Himachal. Mr A. R. Singh of Drish Shoes, while terming the Budget as moderate, said it was disappointing that no reduction in the excise duty had been granted for shoes though similar benefit was granted to the leather garments. Mr Dinesh Jain, owner of Riddhi Packages, said the Budget had nothing for the small-scale industry and there was an added 2 per cent hike in the service tax which took the total tax to 12 per cent. He said the much-required support to the manufacturing sector had been missing in the Budget. Mr Rakesh Bansal, general secretary, Parwanoo Industries Association, said the Budget had brought some relief to the small-scale industry with the curtailment of collateral fee from the existing 2.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent per lakh in the Credit Guarantee Trust.
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‘Interests of HP ignored in Budget’
Shimla, March 1 In his reaction to the Budget, he said by bringing travel agents in the ambit of the service tax, the tourism industry in Himachal would be severely hit. “While the Budget has given relief to the rich through reduction in excise duty on cars and soft drinks, the self-employed would be badly hit by service tax,” he remarked. He said relief had been given to the rich and multinational companies while the interests of the poor and the middle class had been ignored. |
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Virbhadra contests Capt's statement
Shimla, March 1 The assurance came when Major Vijai Mankotia of the Congress raised the issue during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on Governor's Address. The Chief Minister lamented that his Punjab counterpart had made such a statement at a time when the case filed by the state in this regard in the Supreme Court was at an advanced stage. Evidence had been completed and only final arguments were due to take place. He said that under the Punjab State Reorganisation Act, Himachal Pradesh was entitled to 7.19 per cent share in Bhakra, Sutlej-Beas Link and Pong Dam, the three BBMB projects. Besides it was also entitled to 12 per cent free power as royalty from these projects. Mr Virbhadra Singh said Haryana and Punjab had been all through creating hurdles to deny the hill state its due share. Now that the matter was in court he was confident that the state would get justice.
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Hike sought in nazrana of devtas
Mandi, March 1 As of now, only 40 devtas out of the 69 of the erstwhile Mandi state participate in the Shivratri festival, according to Mr Sivapal Sharma, president of the SDC. “The old devtas had stopped coming as it was difficult to meet expenditure as they used to get a negligible amount from the mela committee till eight years ago”, he said. But the government enhanced the grant to Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 about eight years ago and the old devtas started coming here, he said. But oldest devtas will start coming to the Shivratri festival if the state government enhances the nazrana for them by at least by 50 per cent, says Mr Prem Singh, vice-president, SDC. “This year devta Khudi Jal from the Thunag area near Jalori pass has come here after a gap of 76 years, Devta Matlora from Chachiot came after 25 years, Devta Pundrik from Panjain after 26 years, and Devta Jalpa from Gara Gushaini after 70 years”. The priests and kardars cite the long distance and lack of funds as the major reason for the devtas’ absence at the Shivratri festival. “Earlier, devtas had jagirs and income and used to get nazrana from the then rajas. But the government has taken away the land and gives just Rs 10,000 as nazrana,” said Mr Sharma. In all, over 180 devtas have reached Mandi this year, though the mela committee had invited over 215. The SDC members said, “We will take up the issue of hike in nazrana with the CM.” The president, Shivratri Mela Committee and Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, Mr Subhasish Panda, said the committee had increased the ration as per the increase in number of people coming with devtas. “The committee can consider the hike next year, but not this year. We have accommodated even devtas coming here for the first time”, he added. |
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Govt to undertake decongestion of Shimla
Shimla, March 1 This was stated by the Irrigation and Public Health Minister, Mr Kaul Singh, during the question hour in reply to a query by Mr Harbhajan Singh
Bhajji. “Our endeavour is to prepare the plan for decongestion at the earliest so that funds can be obtained from the Centre,” he informed the House. He said the detailed project report of the solid waste management plant to be made on the Tara Devi-Tutu bypass had been prepared at a cost of Rs 5.63 lakh and Rs 24 lakh had already been deposited with the government as price for the land. “Similarly the requirement of the stakeholders is being assessed so that the grain and vegetable market can be shifted outside the town,” he stated. He said Shimla was one of the 63 cities which had been included in the renewal mission. “We are in the process of preparing a project report worth Rs 1,000 crore so that the major works like the construction of tunnel and the creation of parking lots can be included in this,” he said. The minister said under the funds to be received from the Centre, various works like water supply, roads, urban transport and development of heritage sites would be undertaken. In reply to another question by Dr Rajiv Bindal, Mr Jai Ram Thakur and Mr Mahender Singh, the Power Minister, Ms Vidya Stokes, said the issue giving subsidy to the consumers while installing new meters would be placed before the Cabinet. “As per the directions of the HP State Electricity Regulatory Commission, charges have been taken from the consumer for labour, transportation and other things since April, 2005,” she said, adding that giving subsidy was not within the purview of the HP State Electricity Board. Ms Stokes further said the government had already given Rs 100 crore as subsidy and the final decision would be taken by the Cabinet. |
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More animals for Kufri zoo
Shimla, March 1 Recently the CZA granted recognition to the park till December 31, 2009. A CZA team, comprising Mr S. Subrayalu and Dr Mathew C. John, visited the park last year and submitted the evaluation report. On the basis of the report the park was given recognition. The recognition has been granted to it as a small category zoo under Section 38 of the Wildlife Protection Act. The shortcoming pointed out by the CZA earlier had almost been completed. The park is spread over 90 hectares. The committee in its evaluation report had pointed out that the main objective of the zoo should be conservation of the high-altitude endangered species and to strengthen the national efforts in conservation of these species. The zoo already has some of the threatened species like the snow leopard and the Tibetan wolf, which have specially been brought here from Darjeeling. “We are keen to add new rare species, especially the ibex, blue sheep and the musk deer,” said Mr R.S. Chauhan, DFO (Wildlife), and Executive Director of the park. These animals can either be added to the zoo under the exchange programme from other from other zoos or rescued from the state. “The issue of adding more rare species to the zoo is already under the consideration of the Chief Wildlife Warden and there is a possibility that some animals might be brought here from Uttranchal or Jammu and Kashmir,” said another official. In their effort to create awareness about the wildlife and its conservation, over 100 animals at the Kufri park have been put up for adoption. However, only three animals have been adopted so far. |
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Mankotia seeks White Paper on regional disparities
Shimla, March 1 The debate on motion of thanks on the Governor’s Address suddenly turned into a lively affair as Major Mankotia made a common cause with the BJP by alleging that the lower hill areas, particularly Kangra, had not been given their due share in government jobs. He cited the example of the state secretariat where only 200 of the 1,800 employees were from the lower Himachal. If no steps were taken to correct the imbalance, hardly any employee from the region would be left in the secretariat in the next five or six years. He also focused on district wise per capita income to drive home his point. He said out of the 12 districts, Una was at 11th place, Mandi at 10th and Kangra at ninth place which called for corrective steps. Major Mankotia also expressed concern over the mushrooming of centres of corruption and underlined the need to demolish them. Sensitive to the issue of corruption, Mr Virbhadra Singh intervened immediately and asserted that his government had not compromised with corruption in the past and it would not do so in the future. While announcing that the government would bring out a White Paper on the issue of regional discrimination, Mr Virbhadra Singh said citing the employment figures of one or two offices was not correct. The issue should be seen in totality. Recruitment was now being done on the basis of population and as such bigger district were getting proportional share in the police and other departments. Referring to the Ski village controversy, the Chief Minister said he was himself a worshipper of deities and the fight was not against the deities but those who were using revered institution to achieve their political ends. Earlier, noisy scenes were witnessed when Mr Ravinder Ravi (BJP) alleged that land, mining, timber and transfer mafias were thriving in the state. His charge evoked immediate response from Mr Virbhadra Singh who maintained that his government inherited these mafias from the BJP regime. Mr Sat Mahajan, Revenue Minister, said the BJP government had discriminated against Kangra and its own ministers and legislators from the district had made such allegations. |
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Women flying squads to check copying
Kangra, March 1 Mr B.R. Rahi, chairman of the Board at a press conference in his office today said two women flying squads each comprising five women members headed by an assistant secretary of the board had been formed to curb copying among girl candidates. Himachal was the first state in the country which introduced women flying squads. Last year a public representative expressed concern at frisking of girl candidates by a male member of the flying squad and even the Chief Minister had to order an inquiry by the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, into the incident. Last year’s experience prompted the board to introduce women flying squads this year. Mr Rahi said five lakh students were taking examinations of Classes VIII, X, XI and XII in 1514 centres in the state start from March 3. He said 1357 centres were in government schools and 127 in the private schools. A centre was opened at Chango on Indo-Tibet border too for students of this far-flung area. Mr Rahi added 618 officers were appointed checkers to curb copying in examinations. He said there will be nine special flying squads of the board besides 12 deputy directors, five board members, 12 ADMs and 50 SDMs would also be part of the flying squads. He said those found copying or outsiders carrying copying material or helping in copying in 500-metre area of the examination centre would be prosecuted under the act which is non-bailable offence with three months imprisonment. Mr Rahi said carrying of mobiles by students and the examination staff had been banned. The students will be given additional 15 minutes to read the question paper. |
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BJP terms Budget anti-poor
Nurpur, March 1 “Computers have become dearer while the government was expanding the IT sector”, he added. Mr Rana stated that notwithstanding Congress regime in Himachal Pradesh the Union Finance Minister had made no mention of the state in Budget. “The UPA government has brought the tourism industry under service tax which will directly hit the growing tourism industry in this hill state,” he termed the Budget as full of contradictions and was aimed at wooing the electorate. |
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Info chief takes oath
Shimla, March 1 Chief Secretary S.S. Parmar conducted the proceedings of the ceremony which was also attended by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Born on June 9, 1946, Mr Rana belonged to the 1970 batch of the IAS. A postgraduate in mathematics, Mr Rana served on various significant posts in the state like Deputy Commissioner of Sirmaur, the Secretary, Finance, Home, Vigilance and Industries. He also had stints in the Government of India as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Rural Development, and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
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